San Diego singer-songwriter Cody Lovaas will be playing a free show on January 22 at 3:30pm for the Great Kindness Challenge and Kids for Peace taking place at San Diego’s New Children’s Museum. The Great Kindness Challenge seeks to increase tolerance and respect across campuses from kindergarten to high school, while the Kids For Peace non-profit encourages children to spread unity through cross-cultural experiences, hands-on arts, service and environmental projects. The Great Kindness Challenge Celebration and Awards Ceremony will be hosted by Fox 5 News’ Raoul Martinez, with Mayor Bob Filner on hand to present the awards.
Dallas-born, San Diego-raised singer-songwriter Cody Lovaas has discovered a voice and pure direction that make it hard to believe he’s not even old enough to legally drive a car. His preferred means of travel is a surfboard, which carries him through crystalline days along the Pacific Coast. Influenced by artists such as Amos Lee and Jack Johnson, the 14-year-old Lovaas seamlessly combines his love for music and surf into fluid blues-imbued acoustic machinations. Also a skilled ukulele player, Lovaas is beginning to carve out the early stages of a signature sound.
In the fall of 2012, Lovaas entered high school and began recording his debut full-length with Grammy-winning engineer/producer Alan Sanderson. The blossoming young artist, whose chops have landed him a host of prominent sponsorships, sings of the vast ocean and contentment in the present moment, an oft-forgotten philosophy for those dwelling on the errors of yesterday and fearing the trials of tomorrow. He channels the island aesthetic of IZ via tracks like “In the Blink of an Eye” and conveys a big heart through songs such as “Just Care”, which he penned in response to classmates who were exhibiting troubling self-destructive behavior.
Lovaas’ straightforward folk soundscape has drawn praise from local airwaves all the way to Radio Prime Norway. He has played the House of Blues, Anaheim Stadium and Oceanside Amphitheater and shared the stage with the likes of the Dan Band and the Spazmatics. Humble and borderline shy between songs, he bristles with confidence once he strums the guitar he has been playing since the age of seven and croons his original tunes and astute covers such as Ray LaMontagne’s “Trouble”.
The songs of Cody Lovaas exude a maturity betraying his mere 14 cycles of the sun. He does not waste his breath on the trite gimmickry one may have come to expect from vocalists of his generation. Lovaas recognizes his fortunate place in the world and the life he gets to live while speaking from a genuine core and reminding us of the stress-free days of youth.